The poignant shore ...

Earlier we swam out amongst the Sunday yachts -

I looked back towards the shore -

Those dads barbecuing -

Those deck chairs -

Those sunbathing girls -

Those cherished toddlers -

All those little moments -

How poignant it all was -

How sad and wonderful -


14.31
Sunday 30 June 2019

South Beach
Studland
Dorset 

Cooking beetroot ...

Today we bought beetroot to cook -

Like Marco's cook, in the wooden house -

I gazed at the swollen roots, the thick stems -

I remembered the courtyard near the well -

The Frenchwoman in the garden -

The high palm trees shading the white shore -

Marco's smile -

The boy on the motorbike -

The dark furniture in the high ceilinged rooms -

The bright boats on the warm ocean -


20.42
Saturday 29 June 2019

The Old Schoolhouse
East Stoke
Dorset

Wonders in the sky ...

I found a late night X Files on the smart TV -

The Smoking Man was whispering secrets -

There was UFO light bathing the interior of an aircraft hanger -

Dana was with the lone gunmen -

I remembered how my dad loved the X Files -

He was especially fond of Fox -

I always looked up at the sky he said -

I always hoped to see a saucer -

I pictured him -

Straight backed, scanning the clouds over the seaport -

Longing to see wonders in the sky -


23.45
Thursday 27 June 2019

The Old School House
East Stoke
Dorset

The year's first swim in England ...

Seagulls flew above the pines -

The fabric of the deck chair billowed in the wind -

The waves carried me towards the shore -

They knew the weight I carried in my heart -


Thursday 27 June 2019

South Beach
Studland
Dorset 

We were prophets ...

I was one of twelve thousand, bearing witness in the city -

Old and young, we were one -

We gathered by the river, waiting for the hour -


We were undaunted by the spiel of hollow men -

The wiles of the great ones -

We were prophets speaking truth to power -


Wednesday 26 June 2019

London 

Reading New Worlds ...

When I read these stories I'll be twelve again-

Dreaming of rockets and beautiful planets -

I'll be thin and brown on a rocky shore -

Sipping a coke in Toni's bar -


June 24 2019

Lyme Regis

Sky and sea becoming one ...

We followed the wavering path through harts-tongue ferns -

A bird sang unseen -

The air was warm and still, heavy with moisture -

We were far from the world of cliff tops and windswept grass -


Yet high above Pinhay Bay, we glimpsed the sea -

A pale blue smoky mirror -

Sea fret veiling the waves -

Sky and sea becoming one -


Monday 24 June 2019


Above Punhay Bay
Devon

Watching the apparatchiks ...

So many shiny words -

So many caveats -

So many blue suits and white shirts -


June 2019

Dorset

Listening to Faure's Requiem ...

Their voices carried me above the deep -

I saw my dear dead  -

My bitter cup became sweet -

I was bathed in eternal light -


Saturday 22 June 2019

The Lighthouse
Poole

The pale blue Mercedes ...

Maire drove the pale blue Mercedes as though we were driving in a movie -

There were bright pastures and noble horses -

Red Campion bloomed in lush verges -

Clouds lingered over the green hill -

Maire told me that she'd seen whales inn the Gulf of California -

I said how I'd danced to China Girl -

It was the shortest day of the year -

We remembered finding magic in a September field -


Friday 21 June 2019

Lulworth Castle
Dorset    

Chainsaws in the rain ...

The carvers are back -

This summer, they carve the golden wood in the rain -

Raindrops pearl their chainsaws -


June 2019

Wareham
Dorset 

The bull ...

I saw a bull in the water meadows -

He stood near the alder trees -

Haloed in sunlight -

So close I could feel the heat of his flawless skin -


June 2019

East Stoke
Dorset 

No babushkas ...

There were no babushkas knitting today in The Crooked Book -

For a while, I forgot my fears of Sharon's silver instruments -

I browsed the reef of pulps -

I picked up a crazy Edgar Rice Burroughs -

A Martian wizard muttered a dire curse -

A rocket crossed a crimson sky -

The Polish girl crafted a silky cappuccino -


Tuesday 18 June 2019

The Crooked Book
Bournemouth 

Once again at Books Afloat ...

Once again, I climbed the narrow stairs in Books Afloat -

I'd walked down the pinched street, not far from the choppy sea -

I'd looked at the window menu of King Balti -

I steered clear of the vapers standing outside an edgy pub -

Inside the bookshop, I was thankful for the kindness of foxed volumes -

I took comfort in the look of the owner -

His stooped figure -

His antiquarian's tweed -

I bought a postcard of a 1930s Cunarder -

I gazed out the window at a scrap of sky -


11 June 2019

Books Afloat
Weymouth 

The sextant ...

Jim spoke softly, almost shyly -

He'd sailed the oceans on ships as big as small towns -

He'd crossed the line many times -

He'd seen whales -

I joined as a cadet he said -

I was 15 years old -

My first ship -

I remember being on the bridge -

The first officer had just taken a sextant reading -

He held his sextant in one hand, his cigarette in the other -

I knew what would happen next -

He threw his sextant into the sea, not his cigarette - 


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey 

The call of the jets ...

I feasted on a fish of green beans and bulgur rice -

I dipped my spoon into an exquisite sauce -

I sipped icy Efes from a frosted glass -

This was to be my last evening under Eastern skies -

I felt a pang of melancholy when I gazed at the warm twilight sea -

Yet already I'd heard the call of the jets -

I'd pictured their shapes against the stars -


May 2029

Kirtil Restaurant
Marmaris
Turkey 

I heard the choir singing .,,

I heard the choir singing -

Now it was time to disembark -

I saw Adil bow his grizzled head -

The three young marineros placed their hands upon their hearts -


May 2019
On board East Meets West
Marmaris
Turkey 

The welcome ...

The patron greeted us with his gentle yet still wolfish smile -

We were friends of Adil -

Welcome he said -

Please -

We have mezes -

Water - su -

Efes -

Please -

We were shown our places with a courtly flourish -

Welcome -

Eat -


May 2019

Kirtil Restaurant
Marmaris 

A landfall when all seemed lost ...

I was woken by the ship's engines -

They'd suddenly roared into quivering grinding life -

It was just before five in the morning -

I lay on my bunk, remembering the dream -

There was a memory of escaping arrest -

Murder cars in the street -

A forged passport -

A briefcase -

A passage across an ocean -

A cabin like this one -

My heart beating fast -

A landfall when all seemed lost -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey 

The new sun ...

I walked barefoot next to the sea -

The marineros were still asleep -

The new sun warmed the world -


May 2019

Lycian Coast
Turkey 

The card players ...

The yellow ship lay quiet upon the water -

The warm strand was empty -

There were no card players sitting under the fig tree  -

It was too early in the day -

They would gather there later, when the sun was low in the sky -

The sea captains and the fishermen -

Choosing their few words carefully -

Smoking -

Drinking the dark tea -

Blessed with wisdom of their grandfathers -


May 2019
Lycian Coast
Turkey 

At the Karen Pastanesi ...

We ate strawberry tart listening to gentle laments on the radio -

There was a sweeping reef of a marble counter -

Gorgeous pastries were like spooky jewels -

The grave patron sat in the cool shadows -

The Art Deco clock had stopped -

Through the windows, I could see the dazzle of the bay -

A long legged girl walked across the sand -

Margaret taught ballet Anne said -

She does five plies every morning -

I finished my strawberry tart -

I remembered silence falling from a twilight sky -

The yellow ship at anchor -

My cabin filled with dreams -



May 2019

Karen Pastanesi
Marmaris
Turkey

Being healed ...

The yellow ship was a drowsy haven -

Healing sunlight bathed me as I slept -


The shadow of the prow danced upon the water -

This late afternoon would last forever -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
The Lycian Coast
Turkey

Turkish Delight ...

Try this - pistachio -

Please try -

The gentle hunchback had risen from his chair -

This one is pomegranate -

This one hazelnut -

This, mint -

I sampled the pistachio -

Yes I said, yes -

I tasted the sweet pleasure of Turkish Delight -

I was like Edmund, being tempted by the Witch -

More please I said -

The mint -

The pomegranate -

More -


May 2019

Marmaris
Turkey 

Travellers' Tales ...

Each night we feasted like pashas -

We shared our travellers' tales over dizzying gin tonics -


The wild wedding party in Crete -

Breathing the thin air of The Altiplano -


Dancing under olive trees -

Drinking shubat -


Playing backgammon after a perilous voyage -

Crossing over the Pilgrims' Path to Lindisfsarne -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey 

The rock tombs ..

The rock tombs were dark windows above the sea -

Oleanders in new blossom shaded the narrow beach -

Water pearled my skin -


I lay on the warm deck, gazing upwards -

I imagined a bed carved out of stone, midway between sky and sea -

Throughout the night, I would see the stars -

At dawn the young sun rise from the waves -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey 

Marc and Bella ...

Barbara opened her sketchbook -

She held the fine brush in her small brown hand -

She looked out across the wine dark sea -

She’d told me she loved Chagall -

I saw them she’d said -

In a dream -

The lovers - 

Marc and Bella -

Flying above the rooftops -

I saw them embracing in the air -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey

Early morning nowness ...

A boy from the villages bought us bread -

It was early morning -

I was alone on deck -

I swam round the yellow ship -

There was only the moment -

The early morning nowness -

The sunlight on the sea -

The sharp prow -

The coolness of the water -

The dreamers in the ship -

The warmth of the sun -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
The Lycian Coast
Turkey 

The choir in the silent garden ...

The choir sang in the silent garden -

The white villa was yards from the warm sea -

A languid gardener smoked a Muratti -

Roger and I watched a cat dream in the deep shade of tangled vines -

Shapely trees cast their shadows on the grass -

Fish with eyes like silver buttons swam round the yellow ship -

Across the water, the marineros heard the songs -

Small birds flew past -

There was a prickly pear -

The gardener's boy swam in the clear shallows -

A white jet marked the pristine sky -


May 2019

An island near Marmaris Bay
Turkey 

Everyone has their story ,,,

Patsy sipped her tea -

She smiled her lazy gentle smile -

Our farm is not far from The Giant she said -

I'm American -

My dad guarded vegetable barrows in New York -

I'm out of it all -

People try, you know - they try and place me -

We had a boy from Tinkers Bubble, to help out on the farm - 

He built himself a bender -

I often think of him, when I walk round the farm, the boy and his dog, Brake -

The marineros were coiling ropes -

The sea was a deepening dreamy blue -

Patsy put down her cup -

I believe everyone has their story she said -


May 2019

On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast of Turkey

The moonlit ship would cross a turquoise sea ...

We'd seen in the dark the names I knew -

Those gentle villages -


I had sat under their mulberry trees -

I'd heard their calls to prayer -

Each year I'd seen their swallows return -


Tomorrow the sun would heal me -

The moonlit ship would cross a turquoise sea - 


May 2019

Fethiye
Turkey 

The kindness of Adil ...

The kefir Adil said -

It is good for the blood -

Good for the kidneys -

An English told me -

You can take a lot, or small, it is strong -

Adil knew these waters from his boyhood -

He had no need of charts -

He knew where the deep water was, and where there were rocks -

Take he said -

Next year we will walk together -


On board East Meets West
Off the Lycian Coast
Turkey 

Dalaman ...

The white jet had carried us above the sleeping world -

Now we were bathed in airport light -

We were like ghosts wearing summer clothes -

Pale shades waiting in vaulted halls -

Exhausted pilgrims fallen from the sky -


Dalaman
Turkey

May 2019